DNA PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 22 MARCH 2018 2:50 PM (EET)
DNA Plc's Annual General meeting was held in Helsinki on 22 March 2018.
The AGM adopted the financial statements and discharged the Board of Directors and the CEO from liability for the financial period 2017.
Dividend was confirmed to be EUR 0.46 per share; further it was decided that a capital payment of EUR 0.17 per share from the reserve for invested unrestricted equity and an extra capital payment of EUR 0.47 per share be paid. All in all it was decided that EUR 1.10 be paid as dividend and as capital payment from invested unrestricted equity per share, totalling EUR 145,242,551.30. The dividend and the capital payment will be paid on 4 April 2018 to shareholders registered in the company's shareholder register held by Euroclear Finland Ltd on the dividend record date of 26 March 2018. Dividend and capital payment will not be paid for shares held by the company on the dividend record date.
Board of Directors and auditor
The number of Board members was confirmed to be six. Re-elected members of the board include Pertti Korhonen, Anu Nissinen, Tero Ojanperä, Jukka Ottela, Margus Schults and Kirsi Sormunen.
The AGM decided not to change the remunerations paid to the members of the Board of Directors.
The Chairman of the Board is paid annual remuneration of EUR 144,000 and each Board member EUR 48,000. Further, it was confirmed that the meeting fee per Board meeting will be EUR 1,050. The meeting fees of permanent committees of the Board were confirmed to be EUR 1,050 per meeting to Committee Chairs and EUR 525 to committee members.
The auditor will continue to be PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd, with Authorised Public Accountant Mika Kaarisalo acting as the principal auditor.
Board Authorisations
The AGM approved the proposal of the Board of Directors to auhorize the Board to decide on the repurchase of own shares of the company, as well as to decide on a share issue, to dispose of own shares held by the company and an issue of special rights.
Resolution on the changing of classification of unrestricted equity
In previous years, the Company has, when repurchasing its own shares, recorded the subscription price of own shares in a way that reduced the amounts of retained earnings of previous financial periods. In financial year 2012 EUR 103 million worth of own shares were acquired and in financial year 2017 the corresponding figure was EUR 14 million. This has been in accordance with previously made decisions as well as the Finnish Companies Act, but it does not fully allow for the opportunity provided for in the Finnish Companies Act to present funds invested in the company and profits from business operations separately. The Finnish Companies Act would have also allowed for subscription costs of own shares to be deducted from the reserve for invested unrestricted equity which in turn allows for investments in the company and the profit it makes to be presented separately in equity.
The AGM decided to cancel previous accounting treatment in which the amount paid for acquisition of own shares has been recorded as a deduction of earnings and further decided that corresponding shares be removed from the reserve for invested unrestricted equity insofar the company has funds left in the reserve from invested unrestricted equity following the distribution of funds decided earlier in this General Meeting.. Therefore, it was decided to transfer EUR 62,420,161.66 from the reserve of invested unrestricted equity to retained earnings from previous financial periods. This change has no effect on the total of amount of unrestricted equity.
The minutes of the Annual General Meeting will be available on DNA's website at www.dna.fi/agm as of 5 April 2018.
Further information:
Investor Relations, Marja Mäkinen, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +358 44 044 1262, marja.makinen@dna.fi
DNA Corporate Communications tel. +358 44 044 8000, viestinta@dna.fi
DNA Plc is a Finnish telecommunications group providing high-quality voice, data and TV services for communication, entertainment and working. DNA is Finland's largest cable operator and the leading pay TV provider in both cable and terrestrial networks. For DNA, the key area for growth in corporate business is the new way of working, independent of time and place, facilitated by smart terminal devices, diverse communications services and rapid connections. In 2017, DNA recorded net sales of EUR 886 million and an operating profit of EUR 124 million. DNA has more than 3.9 million subscriptions in its fixed and mobile communications networks. The Group also includes DNA Store, Finland's largest retail chain selling mobile phones. DNA shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. For further information, visit www.dna.fi or follow us on Twitter @DNA_fi and Facebook.